Monday, December 17, 2012

Big Four Classic, Morningside o so close, Hazzle Dazzle, Too many bowl games

*Greetings from North Dakota.
*Hockey is God up here..
*It took me some time to gather the fact that there is high school hockey teams up here...boys and girls. Not only that, they draw bigger crowds than their basketball teams.
*I have yet to drop a Mighty Ducks quote on the air..give it time.
*I know I have a lot of Iowans reading this blog..so let's get to it.
*The "Big Four Classic" is a great idea. Wells Fargo is a beautiful facility and the idea of getting Iowas "four teams" together in Des Moines for an annual event is gold. However, there is a problem. The "Classic" needs to be round robin. Have two games on Friday night..two games on Saturday afternoon. Winner plays winner with a consolation game as a warmup Saturday evening. These players don't care about the quick turnaround and even if they did, it's a nice preview for the grind of the conference tournaments. Have it rotate every year. Friday night games..Year One: Drake vs. Iowa/UNI vs. ISU. Year Two UNI vs. Iowa/Drake vs. ISU. Year Three Iowa vs. ISU/Drake vs. UNI. These teams deserve to play each other..and the fans deserve to see it.
*I saw they were selling beer at "The Well" on Saturday during the games. Good thing there were bars nearby.
*I'm sure Iowans enjoyed enjoying a cold one while being in attendance for a college sporting event. Some might be jealous that they serve beer at UND hockey and basketball games..which make hockey games that much more awesome.
*Speaking of UND, the mascot of "Fighting Sioux" has been taken away from them by the NCAA. I'm not going to get into the politics of it but when I moved up here, I thought it would be 5 to 1 "Sioux apparel" to the "New UND apparel." I was wrong. It is more like 99-1. Needless to say, "Sioux" fans aren't trading in their apparel anytime soon.
*Speaking of name changes, the Morningside Mustangs were once the Chiefs..a move not very supported by Siouxlanders.
*Morningside played in the NAIA National Championship last Thursday. They fell in heartbreaking fashion 30-27, in overtime to Marian. Joel Nixon still had one of the more impressive football plays I have ever seen, hands down the best I've seen at the NAIA level. The Mustangs have nothing to be ashamed of..they had a great season and Morningsiders everywhere couldn't be prouder.
*WHO-TV's Chris Hassel is headed to the "Four-lettered network." Chris made a name for himself doing "Hazzle Dazzle's" on the weekly Sunday night show "Soundoff" Some people hated him, most people(awesome people) loved him. Here is my favorite Hassel piece:Little Lick, Lotta Bite
*There are way to many bowl games...There was once a time when I thought bowl season was the second greatest time of the year..(second to "March Madness") I want that to remain true..with the playoff system coming, I think it will.
*Toodles!